7 : Why This Colorado Dentist Asks “What’s Your Priority?” Before Anything Else cover art

7 : Why This Colorado Dentist Asks “What’s Your Priority?” Before Anything Else

7 : Why This Colorado Dentist Asks “What’s Your Priority?” Before Anything Else

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 Dr. Katrina Rojohn did not plan to become a dentist. She was 16, had just finished high school early, and was following a boyfriend to college when his mother asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She had no answer. The woman told her to become a dentist. That was it. That was the whole conversation.Two decades later, Dr. Rojohn runs two practices in the Denver metro area, one in Littleton and one in Castle Rock, Colorado. She opened her first practice at 26. She paid off her dental school loans just a few years out of school. She has watched six-year-old patients grow up, get law degrees, and bring their own kids in to see her. She is still energized by the work.This episode covers a lot of ground. Dr. Rojohn is thoughtful, direct, and occasionally blunt in the best way. She describes a tooth abscess as an ice pick to the face. She talks about what it actually feels like to be the dentist when a patient is in that kind of pain, why grace matters more than anything else in that moment, and how the relationship changes once you get them out of it. She shares the patient story that has stayed with her: a 22-year-old woman who called from a gas station parking lot in tears a half hour after her appointment, saying she had just been asked out on a date for the first time in seven years.She also gets specific about what patient-centered care means in practice. Before she treats anything, she asks one question: what is your priority today? She explains why that question matters, what happens when dentists skip it, and how it changes the experience for patients who walk in scared or overwhelmed by a long treatment plan.In this episode, you will hear:How Dr. Rojohn finished high school at 16 and found dentistry because of a stranger's advice in a kitchenWhy she spent three months as an associate and then bought her first practice insteadWhat it was like to watch classmates struggle with debt while she had already paid hers offThe unexpected connection between jewelry making and modern dentistry, including 3D-printed crownsHow her team handles patients who walk in angry, anxious, or in significant painWhy the front desk sets the tone for everything that happens in the chairWhat a tooth abscess actually feels like and why it changes how you think about dental painHow her offices handle same-day emergency appointments and why that turns first-time patients into long-term onesThe one question she asks every patient before starting treatmentWhy she opens new practices when she gets bored, not when she burns outThe 12-hour rule about plaque that most patients have never been toldA patient story involving a young woman, a fresh set of dentures, and a phone call from a gas station that Dr. Rojohn was not expectingDr. Rojohn practices at Comfort Dental locations in Littleton and Castle Rock, Colorado. She has been in the Comfort Dental ecosystem since she was a dental assistant in college, working for one of the network's senior doctors before she ever set foot in dental school.If you are a patient in the Denver metro area who has been putting off care because of cost, anxiety, or just not knowing where to start, this episode is worth your time. Dr. Rojohn talks about serving patients across every income level, working with government programs, and building treatment plans around what patients actually need and want, not just what is on the x-ray.If you are a dentist wondering what a group practice model looks like from the inside after 16 years, she is also honest about that. The overhead conversation, the new patient flow, the vendor network, the consulting doctor structure. She covers all of it without a script.TIMESTAMPS00:00 - How a stranger's advice sent Dr. Rojohn into dentistry at 16 02:00 - Dental school, assisting for a Comfort Dental doctor in college 03:00 - Three months as an associate, then buying her first practice at 26 05:00 - Watching patients grow up and what long-term relationships feel like 06:30 - The crossover between jewelry making and modern dental techniques 07:30 - Opening a second practice and what drove that decision 10:30 - What makes dentists thrive in a group practice model 15:00 - Building a front desk culture that handles patients in pain with grace 17:30 - Managing dental anxiety and when nitrous is the right call 18:00 - What a tooth abscess actually feels like 19:30 - The Comfort Dental consulting doctor network and vendor accountability 28:00 - New patient flow and how the marketing model works 31:00 - Same-day emergency appointments and why they build loyalty 35:00 - Patient-centered care and the priority question 38:20 - The 12-hour rule: why brushing twice a day has a biological reason 39:45 - The patient who called from a gas station in tearsComfort Dental has been serving patients across Colorado and beyond for decades. Find a location near you at comfortdental.com.Subscribe to the Comfort Dental podcast for new episodes featuring doctors across the network.
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